PTO Today

I am a new PTO "representative" this year and after volunteering to do the PTO job I found out that the PTO we had really was not approved by the county. We are working on this, the new principal and I, but we both have tons of questions.

I am looking into buying the start up but right now I just got an email from the principal asking if we need a board to get incorporated, or do we need to get incorporated first and then pick a board?

I am feeling very overwhelmed when it comes to the 501 (c) (3) and non profit status, the incorporated stauts and getting approval by the county school board.

One other question, as for meetings, can anyone come to meetings or is it strictly the board meetings and meeting for committee members? The old HSA I was with, anyone could come to the monthly meetings, but our principal and this school said differenly.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

You probably need to find the incorporation documents from your state. I think you might need a couple signatures on the forms, so you might want to assemble a board first.

Your by-laws (once you get to that point) would determine who can come. We have general meetings for everyone, and board meetings that are for the board and people we invite. Openness is an important policy for a PTO. If there are other schools in your county, you should ask them for copies of their by-laws, etc.

You need to draft By-Laws and a Charter which your membership must approve in a general meeting. Once that is done, you can incorporate in your state. You can probably incorporate on line, but you will need to provide the names, addresses, etc. of your Board members. Once you incorporate, you are a separate entity and do not have to answer to the school. You can then open your own bank account and your ready to role!

The next step is to file for Non-Profit Status. The PTOToday website and IRS.gov can help you with the form. You should also contact other schools who have filed and get a copy of their Form 1023. See if someone in your school has an accounting/finance background to help with the financial information. The Form may seem overwhelming, but someone with such a backgound should not have too much trouble preparing it.

Good Luck!